Tak

Tak is a two-player abstract strategy game that first existed fictionally within Patrick Rothfuss's fantasy trilogy, The Kingkiller Chronicle and was then brought to life by James Ernest in collaboration with author Patrick Rothfuss and published by Cheapass Games in 2016. In 2021, Tak was incorporated as an event in the international Mind Sports Olympiad. In Tak, players aim to connect two opposite edges of the board with pieces called "stones" and create a road. Players take turns placing their own stones and building a road while blocking and capturing their opponent's stones. The vertical stacking and unstacking of stones gives a three dimensional element to the game play. Terminology There are several common terms used to describe different aspects of Tak and its states of play. Many of the terms are unofficial and, while proposed or commonly accepted among Tak players, are not published in official rules or used in other official capacities. Roads Roads are lines of flat stones, or flat stones and capstones, that connect the north end of the board to the south end or the east end to the west end (or south/north, west/east). They do not have to be a straight line, but each stone must connect orthogonally (north, south, east, west) to the next stone in the road. There are no diagonal connections. The first player to complete a road wins the game. Flat stones Often simply called "flats", these pieces lie flat on the board, may stack on top of each other, and count as part of a player's "road". Standing stones Commonly called "walls", these are flat stones placed standing up on their narrowest side. Standing stones do not count as part of a player's road and are used to block another player's road. Standing stones can stack on top of flat stones and can be "flattened" or "crushed" by a "capstone." Flattening a standing stone turns it into a captive flat stone. Capstones Capstones are the "power piece" of Tak. They have a unique appearance compared to the player's flat and standing stones, which are uniform in color and shape, can't be stacked on by an opponent, and count as a road for the owner. They also have the ability to "flatten" any standing stones (including both the player's or the opponent's standing stones), turning them into flat stones, by moving onto the standing stone's square. Stack Stacks are groups of stones of one or more color stacked on top of each other.